2007 450er Top Engine Set Motor 450 Er Nice 06-07 on 2040-parts.com

Dramatic CCTV footage shows consequences of tyre failure

AS A PART of October's Tyre Safety Month initiative the Highways Agency have released dramatic footage of the consequences of tyre failure. In the clip, viewable on the Highways Agency YouTube channel, motorway cameras capture the moment a front tyre explodes on a large lorry, sending it out of control and into the central reservation in a spectacular crash. Further clips show the chaos caused when all three lanes of a motorway are closed to retrieve tyre debris, and the eye-watering £2 million cost of a lorry fire caused by tyre failure results in all six lanes of a motorway being shut for hours.

New MINI 5-door Hatch starts rolling off the production line in Oxford

New MINI 5-door Hatch starts rolling off the production line in Oxford MINi are wasting no time in getting the new 5-door MINI Hatch in to production following its reveal at the start of June, with the firs 5-door MINIs already rolling off the production line at MINI’s Oxford Plant. The five-door MINI is the second MINI model to be built off BMW’s new UKL 1 platform – the new MIN I being the first – with the platform stretched to give the five-door an extra 72mm in it wheelbase, 15mm extra headroom and enough length to add a pair of (small) back doors). And unlike the three-door Hatch, the new five-door Hatch will be available with a full suite of models from the off, with the SD Cooper included in the range from launch as well as the  Cooper, Cooper D and Cooper S.

Mercedes launches Attention Assist

By Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 13 August 2008 13:28 Mercedes-Benz researchers call it the ‘one-second nap’ – that instant when fatigue overcomes you at the wheel on a long trip and you wake up in hospital. To counter dozing off while driving, which Mercedes claims accounts for a quarter of all major motorway accidents, its engineers have developed an innovative driver support system called Attention Assist. As well as registering linear and lateral acceleration, indicator and pedal operation and vehicle speed, the system also monitors steering response - the most important indicator of fatigue according to Mercedes, is tired drivers have difficulty in keeping their vehicle precisely on track.